In exactly two weeks, the European Basketball Championship will open, but another element has been added to the preparations for it.
Besides the practice matches, the national teams will play twice within the window of the World Championship qualifiers.
This will require them to be fully fit a week before the start of the continental tournament.
In the early home of the Eurobasket itself, five national teams await Israel, not all of them in a bright situation, including the one who is considered the best of them all, Serbia.
To this we can add a family telenovela that casts doubt on the preparations of one of the rivals, which we will now review in detail.
Serbia / Danger of sifting
Not everything is glamorous for what is considered one of the empires in European basketball.
Last summer she missed the Olympic tournament and in the World Championship qualifiers she shows unconvincing ability.
Even before the championship, she will have two very difficult games in this framework, at home against Greece and away against Turkey.
A double loss and promotion to MundoBasket will be in great doubt.
During the preparations, Milos Teodosic, the big star of the Serbs, was surprisingly dismissed from the team by the coach Svetislav Pasic, who explained that he could not give the player the status he was used to.
This step caused a great stir, when another trouble arose next to him: Nemania Beilitsa was injured and is in doubt for the European Championship.
Nano Ginzburg.
Will the Czech chain of successes continue?, Photo: Alan Shiver
Czech Republic / Feel at home
Expectations from Nano Ginzburg's team are high and there are good reasons for that.
The Czechs come after a chain of successes in recent years, they have a full squad and a very strong team.
In addition, the Czech Republic hosts the early home, its two superstars, Tomas Saturnsky and Jan Wesley (who will play in Barcelona next season), will play in the tournament, and will be joined, in their debut campaign, by the only Czech in the NBA, Vit Krejci.
The preparatory games started with an easy victory over the missing Bulgaria and an impressive victory over Croatia.
The Czech Republic will play this weekend in a tournament in Germany, where they may meet Serbia, and in the MundoBasket qualifiers they will meet strong France away and Hungary at home.
Finland / High ambitions
The Northern Europeans are in a special situation against Israel, as they will meet in a week for a pair of crucial games.
On August 25, the Finns will host the meeting in the World Championship qualifiers and on September 1, the teams will meet for the opening game in EuroBasket.
The Finns have Lauri Markkanen, a Cleveland Cavaliers player from the NBA who is considered a tie breaker.
Together with Sasu Salin and the experienced Petri Koponen, Finland has set itself a clear goal - to finish among the top four in EuroBasket.
Markkanen.
The Finns' tie breaker,
It will be the peak status of her young coach Lassie Tobi, who replaced Henrik Dittman, who held the position for nearly two decades.
So far the Finns have achieved a single victory in the four preparatory games, but it should be noted that two of the losses were to the strong Lithuania with Dontas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas.
She will play another preparatory game against Ukraine, and her second game in the MundoBasket qualifiers will be in Estonia.
Poland / Fraternal War
Israel's regular rival in recent tournaments - which beat us in the last match in the MundoBasket qualifiers - is in a different situation than the other national teams.
She is the only one who will not participate in the upcoming MundoBasket qualifying window because she has already been eliminated.
Instead, she will play in the qualifying tournament for the 2025 European Championship qualifiers. Yes, there is such a thing.
The Polish preparatory games started badly with a defeat to Ukraine and a loss to Turkey, but the big story in the Polish camp is a "fraternal war".
Mathias Punitka.
Am I my brother's guard?,
The team's star Matias Punitka and his brother Marcel clashed sharply in the media, after Marcel claimed that Matias prevented him from being included in the national team's squad.
Another trouble that befell the Poles was an American reinforcement that did not materialize.
Jeremy Suchan, a Polish citizen and number 9 pick in the last NBA draft, ultimately chose to concentrate on preparing for his debut season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Netherlands / It is not valid
The team of the lowland country is in a corresponding position, as together with Poland they are the two weak teams in the early stage.
A reasonable chance that both of them will not qualify for the next stage.
In fact, for the Dutch, just qualifying for EuroBasket is considered a great achievement, and it will appear in it for the second time in total in the last 30 years.
Buscaglia.
The Netherlands qualifying for EuroBasket is considered an achievement, photo: Bernie Ardov
We know her coach, he is the Italian Maurizio Buscaglia, who at the beginning of last season coached Hapoel Holon.
The main problem in his team is the attack, partly because Yannick Franca, one of the stars of Holland, is in doubt for the championship.
This is evident in the four losses in the preparatory games.
The Dutch have one warm-up game left against the powerful Lithuania, and in the MundoBasket qualifiers they will host Georgia and host Spain.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
